Emptying the cluttered recesses of a dangerous and confused mind. A place for current e-venting and general indignation.

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Through A Soldier's Eyes

Over the past few months I have been privileged to be involved in supporting our fine men and women serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other far-flung places. Sending postcards, letters, and small packages, I have been able to understand better the heart and soul of our country. I have in return received letters, emails, and photographs from the front lines.

I have never subscribed to collectivism or socialism in any form because I believe God created us to be free and responsible INDIVIDUALS. It is true that His heart goes out to those who suffer and that His ultimate will is that we live in peace. However, I do not think human beings are capable of engineering that sort of peace through mere wishful thinking. There are many enemies of freedom and goodness in this world and they bow to no political or economic pressure. Poisoned by hatred and jealously,they are not persuaded by logic and they don't get all warm and fuzzy singing Kumbaya 'round the campfire or holding hands at Camp David.

Those of us who consider ourselves to be rational thinkers have a hard time wrapping our minds around this fact. We think it impossible that anyone would reject reasonable gestures of peace and reconciliation. It makes sense, everyone has to see that. We can negotiate -we can make them see the light...

One of my soldiers wrote me an email in which he expressed his utter disbelief that a thinking human being would stand in the street, armed only with a small calibre weapon, and face down a tank loaded with the world's most advanced weaponry. Surely that person knows full well that he is going to die. Ideology that deeply rooted does not recognize the constaints of a civilized society. I once heard a psychiatrist quoted as saying that insanity may best be defined as a place with no borders.

"They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them." 2nd Peter 2:19The entire second chapter of Peter discusses the issue of corrupted ideologies, false prophets, and those that exploit and abuse other human beings. This kind of situation has existed since the beginning of time.

There is a lot of discussion about the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and whether they are "legal" or "moral." Very few of these discussions involve the idea of good versus evil. No one wants to acknowledge that there might be evil in this world, evil which needs to be confronted and eliminated whenever possible- by whatever means necessary.

That these fine young men and women are willing to confront those who rape, mutilate, and torture on their own turf is humbling to me. Many of these soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines are also involved in humanitarian projects on their own time and with whatever resources they can pull together. The results have been spectacular.

I encourage you to get involved in soldier support in some way, even if it is only a letter or card. They appreciate anything and everything.